Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, who changed his mind about stepping down, is expected to make a bombshell announcement on changes to his Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) line-up for the coming state elections.

The party's senior vice-president Adenan Satem, who was expected to take over as acting chief minister last month after quitting the federal cabinet, could be dropped as a candidate or moved to a new constituency.

Malaysiakini learnt today that Taib had asked the 64-year-old former minister to move to the new Malay-majority constituency in Lundu in order to pave the way for the chief minister's son Sulaiman.

The question now is wether those seen as strong supporters of Adenan would be retained as PBB candidates?

Among them are state assistant ministers Mohd Naroden Majais - the state assemblyperson for Simunjan and Daud Abdul Rahman - the state assemblyperson for Tupong.

Another name mentioned was Awang Asfia Awang Nassar, the state assemlyperson for Serdeng.

Elections soon

Although he was one of Adenan's strong supporters, Abdul Karim Hamzah, the state assemblyperson for Asajaya and PBB Youth deputy leader, is now seen as a 'turncoat.'

He is one of the strongest voices supporting the call for Taib to carry on as party leader and chief minister.

PBB treasurer and state minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan is expected to be retained as the candidate for Lawas despite being seen as an Adenan supporter.

Also expected to be retained are Wanita leader Sharifah Mordiah and Dr Abang Rauf Abang Zen. The duo are state assistant ministers and supporters of PBB deputy president Abang Johari Openg.

PBB currently has 30 state assemblypersons in the 62-member state legislative. Of the 30, 22 are Malay/Melanau elected representatives and the rest are Dayak - Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu.

In the newly re-constituted state assembly which will have an additional nine seats, PBB will have five additional seats bringing its total to 35, just two seats short of a simple majority.

It is learnt that PBB is also likely to drop former state assistant minister Wahab Dolah, the incumbent for Matu Dato. This follows his agreement to contest in the Kuala Rajang parliamentary constituency in the last general elections, which he won.

Over the weekend, malaysiakini reported that Taib had told his party supreme council that the state legislative assembly would be dissolved in the third week of April.

Yesterday, he told reporters that he would be calling for the state elections soon.

Political analysts said one of the reasons for an early polls was to put an end to the scrambling for positions in PBB and to drive home the point that Taib was still in charge since there had been much hype about Adenan taking over the reigns.

"There is clearly a process of realignment (within PBB) and Taib wants to build a team that he is comfortable with as he awaits the implementation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan to carry Sarawak through what he has called the second wave of development," remarked a seasoned observer.

In another development, the Chinese-based Sarawk United People's Party (Supp) was expected to announce its 19 candidates for the state elections soon.

The Sarawak People's Democratic Party (SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) were expected to disclose their lists by early April.

Disputed seats

On the disputed Ngemah and Belaga seats, the state Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership was said to have decided that if PRS could prove it was the rightful successor to the now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) then the seats would go to PRS instead of SPDP.

PRS secretary-general Sidi Munan told malaysakini today that the only disagreement within the party was over the choice of candidates for the two seats.

If the two seats go to PRS, the party would contest in nine state constituencies while SPDP in eight.

In the 2001 state elections, BN won all but two of the 62 seats. The independent who won in Meluan, Wong Judat, later joined SPDP while the sole opposition seat was held by DAP's Chiew Chin Sing (Kidurong).

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's stringer in Sarawak.